Every couple of years, my friend and neighbour PeteV passes me a bottle of Chivas Regal 12YO Scotch Whisky.
He receives the occasional bottle as a gift, but as none of us are spirit drinkers, he’s more than happy for me to use it for cooking (my apologies to Greg and the other whisky drinkers out there who I’m sure will be completely appalled by this).
This chocolate cake recipe from Nick Malgieri’s Bake! provided the perfect excuse to crack open the bottle. I’ve now made it twice, and I think it only fair to let you know the pros and cons of the recipe before you splurge on a bottle of whisky (or bourbon, as the original recipe specifies) to make it.
First and foremost, the cake is delicious. It has a moist tender crumb and a deep, dark, grown-up chocolate flavour. Each batch has a whopping 120ml of whisky (four nips!) and according to my friend Rebecca, only 75% of that will burn off during the one hour baking time. So it’s not a cake to be feeding to little people.
Secondly, it’s made in a very interesting way – the flour, sugar and bicarb are beaten together, and then the butter, softened first to the consistency of mayonnaise, is beaten in gently. It’s worth mentioning that the finished batter is basically a soup, as half a litre (2 cups) of liquid is added at the end. Go gently on the speed dial of the mixer, or it will splatter all over the kitchen!
The only real negative to report is that I struggled to get the finished cake to release cleanly from the bundt pan. Of course, I was lazy and didn’t do as Nick instructed, which was to butter the tin, scatter in dry breadcrumbs and then spray oil over the top of them. But usually a light spray of canola oil is enough in my cast aluminium bundts – although not in this case, as you can see…
Finally, and I’m still not sure whether this is a pro or a con, the batter is absolutely to die for. It tastes like dark chocolate Irish cream with a little eggnog thrown in for good measure, and I had trouble ladling it into the pans rather than my mouth. Pete caught me with my head inside the mixing bowl, snuffling up the leftover mixture. “It wasn’t very becoming”, he told me later.
Are you still interested? If so, here’s the recipe…
Chivas Regal Chocolate Cake
(based on Maida’s Chocolate Bourbon Pound Cake in Nick Malgieri’s Bake!)
- 140g (5oz) unsweetened chocolate, cut into small pieces or grated (for the first cake, I used Callebaut cocoa mass, and for the second one, I used Willie’s Cacao)
- 360ml (1½ cups) hot brewed coffee (I used a strong plunger decaf coffee)
- 120ml (½ cup) Chivas Regal (original recipe says to use best bourbon whiskey)
- 300g (2 cups) plain (AP) flour
- 440g (2 cups) white sugar
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), sifted
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 250g (1 cup) unsalted butter, really soft
- 3 medium (55g) free range eggs, at room temperature
- 10ml (2 teaspoons) vanilla extract (I used homemade)
1. Prepare tins – either line two loaf tins (mine were 21.5 x 11 x 7cm, or 8½ x 4½ x 2¼”) with parchment paper or butter a 10-cup bundt pan, coat it with fine dry breadcrumbs and then spray over them with vegetable cooking spray. I didn’t actually do this, but I will next time! Preheat the oven to 160C/320F or 150C/300F with fan.
2. Place the chocolate in a large bowl and pour over the hot coffee. Allow to rest for a minute or two, then whisk to combine. Stir the whisky into the mixture.
3. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, gently beat together the flour, sugar, sifted bicarb and salt, using the paddle attachment. Stop the mixer and add in the butter, which needs to be really soft. Mix on the lowest speed until the mixture comes together and all the butter is incorporated – the consistency at this point reminded me of choux pastry dough.
4. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat slowly to combine, before turning the speed up to medium and beating for a minute.
5. Scrape the bowl and beater down, and then pour in half the chocolate mixture. Mix very slowly to start (or you’ll end up wearing it!) and then turn the speed up to medium and beat for a minute. Now add the remaining chocolate mixture, and again beat very slowly to start with, before turning the speed up to medium for a further two minutes. Resist the urge to drink all the batter at this point.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared tin(s) and bake for about 60 – 70 mins – a cake tester inserted into the middle of the cake should come out clean. My loaf tins only needed 60 minutes, but the bundt pan took slightly longer.
7. Let the cake rest in the tin for 15 minutes before crossing your fingers and attempting to unmould it. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
It wasn’t very becoming…. Oh, that line got me laughing so hard!
I once caught a friend of mine (my best friend) in Brazil, sucking the last bits of mango from the pit, standing by the sink, like a wild dog going at roadkill. I make sure she never forgets I witnessed it… :-)
Sounds like an interesting cake indeed – I am not a whiskey drinker, my Dad was, and did his best to convert me, but I hate the taste. We do have a bottle, it’s probably 10 years old – you think it’s still good? (Now Greg will NEVER visit my blog again… ;-)
Sigh…I’m grateful Greg left a comment below, so I know he’s still visiting mine.. :)
It really wasn’t a good look, Sally.. ;-)
Ha!!! Thank you so much for the image of your head in the mixing bowl and Pete’s comment…you gave me such a laugh this morning! :) I haven’t tried this one yet, but I’m putting it on the to-make list now: dark chocolate with Irish cream and eggnog?! Yum! :)
Abby, it was uncooked batter too, so it was very alcoholic. I was actually a little tipsy. It was soooo delicious, I can’t tell you.. ;-)
Any cake that calls for liquor, bourbon in particular, is right in my book! I probably would use a bourbon I had on hand!
It was supposed to be bourbon, but it was very nice with the Chivas. Thank you for not rousing on me.. ;-)
Have to say the Chivas Regal tempted me in today! It is my dads tipple of choice! c
It used to be my dad’s as well, when he was younger! :)
O God! This is a very generous cake! Love it, thank you!
Thanks Carmen! We ended up sharing it with quite a few friends, so it really was, as you say, a very generous cake! :)
I certainly am still interested, Celia! It looks so dense and moist as all the best chocolate cakes are! Brilliant, as usual.
Thanks Nick, although I’m afraid it’s not very frugal..unless someone donates a bottle of whisky! :D
Hee hee I think a mixing bowl on one’s head is a great look, goes well with the inevitable chocolate moustache that is always a dead give away. I bet Pete was just envious that he hadn’t got in there first.
What an interesting sounding recipe though, I would love to make that for my Dad as he drinks a little shot of single malt from time to time and I’m sure would adore this :)
Jo, I wish you could have seen his face, standing at the doorway of the kitchen while I was trying to get the last drops out of the bowl. The whisky flavour is really apparent, even in the finished cake, and the texture is very soft, and not at all mudcakey in any way…
Gee, I divorced chocolate earlier this year, so might have to bookmark this one for when I change my mind. It sounds and looks absolutely superb… and thanks so much for the introduction to Rebecca!
Thanks Lizzy! And Becca is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet in the blogosphere..
My husband would go into full body spasm, seeing a good 12yo, single malt poured into a cake.. however to avoid this, I will make this gorgeous cake when he is not home :-)
And one day, men will surely learn, their wives snuffling in the mixing bowl, hair askew, arising with a chocolate ring of confidence – is purely a right of passage!
Ahh, I knew they’d be a few who would be appalled! I deliberately didn’t include a photo of the big bottle – that would have been too incendiary.. :)
Now if I could just figure out some way to make this into a bottled liqueur.. :)
Wow Celia! This looks like a seriously good cake, thanks for sharing!
Jane, it was fun to make, if a little sticky to get out of the tin! Thanks! :)
I’m sure you have a lot more dirt on Pete than he does on you Celia! Blame the alcohol fumes from the cake cooking :)
You certainly make this cake sound irresistible and I’m sure the alcoholic content is a bonus extra, Yumm….
Darling, you saved a whole gaggle of small children from intoxication, thanks for letting me know the whisky wouldn’t all burn off.. ;-)
licking spoons, spatulas, bowls and the bench if there’s a good dollop on there too is the cook’s privilege and it’s not mentioned anywhere in the book of decorous behaviour..well..not in my copy anyway..:)
on a more serious note your cake looks the absolute bomb..my son is the chocoholic in the family and this cake would make him very very happy..and i wouldn’t mind a slice myself..:)
Jane, thank you! It was popular enough to be made a couple of times in quick succession! :)
Now, that is a cake!
I love the dark moist shot – it looks almost like fudge.
And your head in the bowl wasn’t meant to be a becoming moment- just a satisfying one! LOL!
I made your tiger cake last night for dessert and loved it . I put a large dollop of whipped cream on top and all the men asked for seconds.
This cake will have to wait until the first is gone. That recipe made 2 large loaf cakes!
Heidi, it is very un-fudgelike in character – it’s a very soft, tender crumb, despite how the photos look! :)
I’m so glad your tribe liked the tiger cake! It does make a lot, but I’ve found it keeps well too, so we’re slicing into it for several days. I love the little hint of pepper in it! xx
I wish I could have seen you with your head stuck in the mixing bowl. Quite a few times I’ve had to throw a bowl in the sink and fill it with water to stop myself licking it clean!
Claire, I so understand – I often have to wash the beaters straight away as well! :)
This sounds so wickedly divine. As for head in the bowl. I have been caught like that more than once! :)
Thanks Meg! I’ve been known to clean up a mixing bowl or two in the past, but this was quite different. This time I almost preferred the batter to the cake! :)
My friend Colin would have a fit, he is a whisky man of the first order but it’s very tempting. Perhaps I could sneak some out of the bottle I keep on hand for him?
I saw “One Man and a Campervan” for the first time ever on SBS last Thursday. The fellow was in Scotland and said he was going to include some “Scottish olive oil” in the recipe o my ears pricked up. Scottish olive oil?? It was, of course, whisky. :)
Rose, Scottish Olive Oil? I love it! :)
What an utterly rich, gorgeous, moist looking cake Celia! I wonder what they’d think of me if I made this and took it into work, I think I might be in trouble!!!
For UK people, thebookpeople.co.uk are currently selling Nick Malgieri’s Bake! for £4.99. Not that I’m easily influenced by you Celia…. and not that I’ve just ordered it or anything!!! Looking forward to browsing when it gets here!
C, thanks for letting us know, that’s an absolute bargain! I’m sure I paid more than that on Amazon!
Well, I just happen to have half a bottle of Chivas in the cupboard which is now screaming to be used. Thank you for the idea.
Sarah, I hope you have fun with it. I’ve also used Chivas in the past to make irish cream (from a recipe I found online) and it was quite delicious (but a little too rich and milky for me these days)…
Oh thank you for posting this recipe Celia; now I know how to use up a bottle of 18 year old Glenfiddich that I haven’t been able to gift to any of my friends! That’s one down four others to go.
Alain, that’s a serious stash of Glenfiddich! Luckily this recipe uses four nips at a time.. ;-)
When can I come over, and how do I become friends with Alain above?
ANY whisky around here seems to evaporate (in my mouth!)
Wendy, come over anytime, there’s still plenty left in the bottle! :)
hehehe… any mixing bowl over your head is becoming, especially when there is chocolate and whiskey involved. The inside of that cake looks rather spectacular Celia.
(wow! just looking at the recipe again…1 1/2 cups of coffee in there. Between that and the whiskey it really isn’t for little people is it… ahh well :-)
Brydie, that’s why I had to sound the warning! In fact, Big Boy who is on his red P’s wasn’t even game to have any when he had to drive.. :)
Oh dear! I don’t think Carl would be too happy if I poured all his Chivas Regal into a cake! But that does look delicious – so dark and moist. I can imagine it must have the most divine taste. And I love your Bundt tin – very gorgeous. The cake looks fine to me!
Charlie, I know, I know, don’t tell him! Pete just walked in and said, “it wasn’t wasted, we were just enjoying it in a different way!” :)
Thank you for saying the bundt cake looked ok, but you can see my feeble attempts to cover up the top with icing sugar… :)
Uh-oh, this looks like it could cause insanity in short shrift. And since I’m already so very close to that precipice, it seems it would be foolish not to grab the opportunity to dive right on over. Delicious, delicious.
Kathryn, it makes quite a big cake too, so the insanity can be shared.. :)
If I had a camera within reach, it would take a picture of me lying on the floor murbleing, “Omnomnomnom.”
Heaven’s version of chocolate.
Maz
:D Wish you were here to share it with us, Maz! :)
Think I will have to save this recipe for special occasions ONLY! I would gain a few extra really unwanted kilos eating half of it straight from the bowl and then polishing the cake off too! Magnificent recipe Celia.
:-) Mandy
Thanks Mandy…oh, you have no idea how wicked the batter was. I was a bit tipsy afterwards… :)
It looks so rich and moist! I confident I can finish the whole cake by myself :)
Thanks Tes! Not for little ones though, it was quite alcoholic! :)
Waw, this divine & stunning ” rich ” chocolate boozed up cake looks just FABULOUS!!!
Waw!! Truly appetizing too! ;)
Thanks Sophie! It was pretty boozy! :)
Wow! This looks sooo good! A REAL cake! Ahh I want a piece:)
Miss K, wish we could share with everyone – there was heaps to go around! :)
Dear Celia,
I have never heard of a Chivas Regal choc cake but it sure sounds pretty regal to me!
I have been a whisky drinker for long time but somehow I don’t have much affinity to Chivas although if you were going to cook with it, I would definitely have a few swigs from the bottle. Much prefer my fave JW black :)
Chopinand, my mother used to occasionally cook with dad’s JWB – he was completely and totally appalled! :)
Brilliant looking cake, Celia, and the struggles getting it out of the pan are very well disguised in your photo. I have just arrived home after 3 weeks in the US and just about wept when I saw the price of fine chocolate over there – Valrhona single origin cooking choc was selling for $14 per kilo in one shop. Sadly I never made it back to the shop to buy some to bring home – perhaps my biggest regret. *Sob*
*Sob*..I’m crying with you on that one, Amanda! Sounds like you had a most wonderful trip!!
That does look appealingly moist-a trait of my favourite chocolate cakes! I’m not much of a whisky drinker either and coincidentally was cleaning up today and found two small bottles of Maker’s Mark bourbon whisky!
I’ve never heard of that brand before! This is definitely a very moist cake, L!
OMgoodnesss , beautiful looking cake Celia. You have got good use out of that cake tin haven’t you?. Makes me wish I didn’t give mine away!
Thanks Tania, and I have to say, I really do get a lot of use out of my bundt pans!
What a beautiful cake but the story and the comments have a grin on my face from ear to ear. Surely Pete knows that licking the bowl is what we get for making the cake?
Maureen, he does, but he was somewhat perturbed by the sight of his slightly intoxicated wife madly drinking batter out of a big metal mixing bowl.. ;-)
My husband’s parents are Scottish, so they are given a lot of Scotch as gifts, which they don’t drink. I think there are 8 or so bottles in their bar, still in the box.
This looks like a great use for it, I must sneak some out into the kitchen!
Jade, they’ll probably be delighted that you’ve come up with a use for it! :)
Celia, I love you. And Pete. (sorry). ‘Not very becoming….you have me almost running to the kitchen!!!!!!!!!!! Absolutely cracked up!
Thanks Oz! I wish you could have seen the look on his face… ;-)
Lots of love to you too, dearheart!
This sounds like a winning combination! I will definitely have to try this recipe. You have a really great blog!
Thanks for stopping by! :)
It looks deliciously fudgey :) yum!!
Thanks Nic! Not fudgey though, more light and tender! :)
If you are looking for another use of your whiskey in cooking, I suggest this:
http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2011/11/perfect_pies_a_review_a_recipe.php
I made this last night and it is scrumptious! The perfect pies book is amazing!
My mother in law is always pinching my father in law’s good booze for cakes and puddings and things. I got him some Calvados & he put caution tape around it so she would not steal.
That said, I approve of this cake.
Lucas, that is too funny! :)
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